Kitchen and bathroom fabrication, when using tile, still requires the presence of an experienced tile setter who comes to the residence or other establishment, to hand install tile, piece by piece. Curiously, while mass production techniques exist for counter tops in general, prefab tiled counter tops have not yet been commercially displayed. Nontile prefabricated counters are available in building supply outlets to be matched with sinks, cabinets, etc. for subsequent transit in toto to the site of installation. In this way, the consumer can mix and match different components. This is not true however for tiled counters.
For example, should one decide to replace a sink in one's bathroom, on display in building supply warehouses, one can find a plurality of diverse sink support cabinets and a plurality of sink basins and faucet designs. However, should the consumer desire to use something other than formica or synthetic marble and requests tile, a professional tile setter must go to the house. This clearly raises the cost for bathroom renovation beyond what should be a minimum expenditure attainable my mass production techniques.
The following patents reflect the state of the art of which applicant is aware and is also tendered in response to applicant's acknowledged duty to disclose prior art. U.S. Pat. Nos.
3,992,825, May, Nov. 23, 1976;
3,521,418, Bartoloni, July 21, 1970;
2,122,696, Poston, July 5, 1938;
1,898,668, Jones, et al, Feb. 21, 1933;
1,038,551, Forsyth, Sept. 17, 1912;
400,076, Greenaway, Mar. 26, 1889;
3,308,725, Nagin et al, Mar. 14, 1967;
1,968,189, Bartels, July 31, 1934;
2,549,415, Bonnell, Apr. 17, 1951;
2,031,255, Deubelbeiss, Feb. 18, 1936;
2,154,036, Doherty, Apr. 11, 1939.
Brochure: H.B. Fuller Company prior to 1984.
None of these citations teach singularly or in any conceivable combination that which is the nexus of applicant's invention to be delineated hereafter.
For example, the patent to Doherty teaches the use of a constructional detail element to be used in the environment of baths and sinks which specifically "eliminates" the need for tile in which cementicious material is placed upon a sheet of lath 16 after the lath has been tack welded to an underlying pan. Optionally, the outer face of the panel can then be enameled and then baked to provide a durable surface. Suitable pigment may be employed in the glaze when enameling for aesthetics.
Deubelbeiss provides a seal adapted to circumscribe a bathtub which abuts adjacent tiles thereabove, in which conventional lath is fixed to a wall, and cementicious material is troweled thereon. The cementicious material allows placement of tiles in a conventional manner.
The patent to May teaches the use of a fiberglass shell which supports "sheet tile" through the use of adhesive. Each of the tiles on the sheet are interconnected. The remaining citations show the state of the art futher.